1. Growing Up
When I was seven years old I spent six months in Brazil. In this time I was lucky enough to experience Carnival in Bahia, which is basically five days of music and dance in the streets with over two million others. My father was a classically trained violinist and taught me to play when I was young. 90% of the music that was listened to in our household was Brazilian, this has definitely impacted on the music I make now, mainly rhythmically.
2. Inspirations
My favourite musician is James Blake – to put it simply: he’s a genius. I remember first hearing his music when I was living in Melbourne. I didn’t like it or understand it at all until a few weeks later when I fell in love. Generally I’m inspired to write music when I hear a good song, or when something affects my mood to the point that I have to express it.
3. Your Band
Tora is made up of me (Jo), Shaun, Jai, Thorne and Toby. We all met back at school, so we’ve known each other for a long time and we’re best mates. Funnily enough, my mother is married to Shaun’s father as a result of our friendship, and Toby’s father is with Shaun’s mother as well. We all have broad tastes, but Jai and Toby really likes jazz-infused music, Toby loves hip hop, Thorne, Shaun and myself predominantly listen to more chilled stuff.
4. The Music You Make
We make chillwave music – when people ask that’s the only way I can describe it. We recorded, produced and mixed all of our releases ourselves in our own bedrooms. Our live show tends to have a lot more energy than the recordings, and we’ve been told that we replicate the CD quite well, but our music is actually danceable when you can feel the subs.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
Australia is producing some of the best music in the world at the moment, but the space between major cities is too vast, which makes it hard for smaller artists to tour. I think it’s great there are so many opportunities for independent artists in Australia, the biggest example being triple j unearthed.
Sticky Fingers took me by surprise. I remember just a few years ago, my old band supported them at the Great Northern in Byron and there were about 50 people in the room. I saw them at Splendour this year and it blew me away.
TORA is playing a bunch of dates nationally to launch their EP Eat the Sun. Catch them at Shebeen this Friday November 7.
